Sunday, March 25, 2012

Some Historical Inaccuracies Taught In Malaysian Schools

According to the Constitution, Malaysia is a secular state with Islam as the religion of the Federation.

2. Umno’s opposition to the Malayan Union in 1946 is the starting point for the struggle for independence.

Actually it began a good ten years before Umno came into existence. A broad coalition known as AMCJA-Putera had a post-war anti-colonial programme in 1945. They produced the People’s Constitution and even organised a hartal. The British used brutal methods to suppress the movement and its leaders suffered imprisonment. Fahmi Reza has documented the struggle of AMCJA-Putera both on audio and video.

3. The Malay Regiment was the sole military unit to combat the communist insurgency now known as The Emergency.

The Malay Regiment was just one of the military units – not the sole – to battle militant communism. Commonwealth forces from Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji made tremendous sacrifices in the battle to defeat the communist insurrection. This fact is omitted from our history books. Besides the multi-racial Malayan Police ( Jungle Squad, Special Branch, Sarawak Rangers and Polis Hutan) also played a crucial role.

4. The role played by the Chinese and Indians in the development of the country is hardly mentioned in the history books.

What Malaysia is today is due to the tin and rubber industries. The main exports after independence were rubber and tin. Thousands of Indians died of malaria and tuberculosis working in the rubber plantations. The Chinese worked in the tin mines under very difficult and trying conditions. These facts are not mentioned in the history books.

5. The role of MCA and MIC leaders together with Tunku Abdul Rahman is not emphasised in the history books.